Two federal judges have ordered the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of probationary employees it illegally fired. Agencies report they are doing so but placing most of them on paid leave.
Federal agencies continue to unwind the firings of federal employees to comply with court orders, in a labor-intensive process affecting more than 24,000 people nationwide.
Last Thursday, U.S. District Judge William Alsup called for six agencies to immediately reinstate probationary employees they had fired. The case was filed in federal court in San Francisco by civic organizations who said they’d been harmed by the government’s inability to provide services.
Later that evening, U.S. District Judge James Bredar ordered 18 agencies to temporarily reinstate their fired probationary employees in a case brought in federal court in Baltimore by a group of Democratic attorneys general. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia argued their harm stemmed from not having received 60-days‘ notice of the mass layoffs as required by federal law, which left them unable to provide a rapid response that could have mitigated the economic impact.
Probationary employees are typically those in their first or second year on the job but can include people promoted into new positions.
The Trump administration appealed both decisions after issuing a blistering critique of the rulings.
„Singular district court judges cannot abuse the power of the entire judiciary to thwart the President’s agenda“, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week. „If a federal district court judge would like executive powers, they can try and run for President themselves.“
On Monday, in compliance with Bredar’s order, the 18 agencies filed status reports on their reinstatement efforts, which included contacting fired employees through their personal email addresses and phone numbers, and at one agency, through certified mail.
